A Passionate Rivalry Fuelled by Desire to Win

Ryan Giggs once said that the fixture between Liverpool and Manchester United is "probably the most famous fixture in English football". The veteran United player was speaking from experience - vast experience, and if anyone between the two sides still playing knows how deeply intense and important a game between the two sides is, it is Giggs. He has won 11 Premier League medals during his 21 years at Old Trafford, and under Sir Alex Ferguson, has equalled Liverpool's record for League titles.

18 titles each, and the end of the season is on the horizon. Neither side have relived their glory days this season, and, in Liverpool's case, have seen their quality dive to an unexpected and very unwelcome low under Roy Hodgson. Replaced by Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, and their form picked up, but such was their deficit of the leaders, that they now have no chance of catching either United or Arsenal at the top of the table and preventing their North West rivals from taking that 19th title.

The record means "so much" according to Rooney. The young United striker may not have as deeply rooted loyalty to United than Ryan Giggs has possessed over the passed two decades, but his past with Everton has fuelled his contempt for the Reds. He said yesterday that winning the 19th title for United would mean not only so much to United fans, but Everton fans too, who love to see their rivals suffer. 

"I grew up an Everton fan so to be part of the team to overtake Liverpool's record would be brilliant. It would mean so much to us players as well as the fans.

"It is something I have been thinking about a lot. I know all the Everton fans want us to do it and hopefully we can. You look forward to every game at this stage and you've got to enjoy it, especially when you are in the running for a few trophies. It is exciting for the fans and it's exciting for the players knowing that you are just a few weeks away from possibly winning a major trophy or two."

Liverpool's modern team have, as it is well known, failed to win a Premier League title, and in the meantime, United have succeeded at the pinnacle of the League table time after time, even winning the title three times in a row from 06/07 to 08/09. Liverpool have only been able to watch United succeed with gritted teeth - only coming close in the 08/09 season when they achieved their highest points total of 86 which was still not enough to overcome United. 

Players feel this rivalry, as Rooney showed in the quote above. Gary Neville, recently retired from United had a stunning passion for beating Liverpool, and as a result became a massive hate figure for Liverpool fans. This kind of fiery, hot-blooded conflict between players and opposing fans create that fantastic atmosphere in games. Much like Roy Keane's hatred for both Arsenal, and losing moulded the way in which the United - Arsenal games were played.

Steven Gerrard too, a talismanic figure for Liverpool who has often carried the team when many of the team dragged their heels with laziness is involved in this fight of the North West. The captain of Liverpool inspires his side at times admirably, but his main ambition to win a Premier League title has so far failed, and as he gets older, this achievement looks more and more unlikely. Gerrards banning of any Manchester United shirts in his house really sums up this burning rivalry.

Just as it means "so much" to Wayne Rooney and indeed I am sure, Ryan Giggs, it means a great deal to fans of both sides who live to see their respective teams succeed, and defeating their rivalry along the way. Whether there ferocious tackles, dubious decisions, last gasp goals or referee criticism, this is a rivalry that will continue with the same burning passion and interest for a long time. 

It's Best It Ended When It Did for Liverpool

Liverpool crashed out of the Europa League at the hands of Braga on Thursday as the Reds failed to overturn a one goal deficit which they suffered in Portugal last week. I say "crashed out" - it would be far more suitable to compare the failing to a slow, tiresome burning out and eventual gentle stop rather than eventful, action packed full car chase ending in an exploding and manic "crash". I watched the match, and in hindsight I wished I hadn't.

If Kenny Dalglish's long term future relies on the upcoming performances and results in matches, then this was indeed worrying for him and his future. Of course he is probably the best choice for Liverpool as long term manager - having the full and undying support from the fans is and will be vital - but this performance, much like all of Liverpool's European performances this season, have been uninspiring and just plain boring. Fair enough if you get the end result, but when your not even getting a goal against the 6th place Portuguese League side, you know there are problems.

The fact that Andy Carroll started for Liverpool had pundits and commentators alike, excited beyond belief with the idea that long balls would be expertly nodded down by the big man for either Cole or Meireles to smash home. It actually conspired that Joe Cole was woeful as he has been during his short Liverpool career so far. I hesitate in blasting Cole who is obviously a quality player, but he did pretty much nothing against Braga to warrant £90,000 a week. This is, after all, a player whom Steven Gerrard compared to Lionel Messi when he first signed for Liverpool.

Carroll started his first game for Liverpool and couldn't get into the game. The team lacks the ability to cross from the wings, with Johnson often being the main provider. Johnson was coincidental swiftly closed down whenever he received the ball in a dangerous position as if to emphasise the danger of his and Carroll's combination. Carroll did what he does though - getting his head on anything he can and occasional holding the ball up well when he found it at his feet. He ran and ran, copying the template of the tireless Dirk Kuyt, but in this case, it was to no avail.

It was best it ended here though. Lets face it, Liverpool with this team had no chance of winning the competition when other teams in the competition have far more creativity and spark than the Reds do without the very important but cup-tied Luiz Suarez. It was a toothless display from Liverpool who can now concentrate on their domestic and far more important competition of the Premier League. They will be fighting for a place in the Europa League next year so they can bore us all over again. Joy!

Watch: Liverpool 3 - 1 Manchester United

Manchester United suffered in what was one of their worst performances this season - and there has been a few. Below are the match highlights. Match thoughts are to follow.

First Half Highlights



Second Half Highlights

£16 million man: "Manchester United is the club of my dreams"

Despite being an apparent £16 million target for Liverpool, 20 year-old defensive midfielder Yann M'Vila has revealed his love for club rivals, Manchester United. This may be a big blow for Liverpool, who have reportedly been scouting the Rennes player for a while through their Director of Football Strategy, Damien Comolli, and it perhaps shows a sign of the times at Liverpool. The Mersey side club have dropped out of the top four, haven't won a trophy for a couple of years, and have suffered utter turmoil both on and off the pitch in recent times having trouble with both their owners and managers.

The French player M'Villa, who has been described as a player who possesses "excellent defensive abilities" and "impressive physical strength" said:

"Manchester United is the club of my dreams. It's a very prestigious club and I dream to play for them."

Since losing Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid in 2009, Liverpool have never really replaced him with a quality central midfielder to partner Steven Gerrard, who can create for the attack, whilst holding the team together in the middle of the park. They tried with Alberto Aquilani - look where that ended up. Raul Meireles hasn't had an immediate impact on Liverpool, and doesn't look as if he has the authority to command the midfield like Alonso used to. M'Villa would certainly add to the squad at Liverpool.

Manchester United on the other hand, have not been linked to the player as heavily as Liverpool have, but will soon be looking for some midfielders themselves as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs will be looking towards retirement in the near future. The problem with transfers at United is mainly about both the price, and the preference of the player. If the player wants to join you, you have a great chance of signing him, but if you are in hundreds of millions of pounds of debt... well there lies the problem.

United have been linked to Belgian central midfielder Steven Defour, as well as German play maker Bastien Schweinsteiger for the central position, while players such as Michel Bastos and Fabio Coentrao have been tipped to replace Giggs - despite both being defenders.

Liverpool have far bigger problems on the pitch than top of the League, unbeaten Manchester United, but both teams can easily be improved. By who, we will have to find out.

Was it a Penalty? United 1 - 0 Liverpool

Only 31 seconds in, and Berbatov went down in the penalty area through a challenge from Daniel Agger, and Howard Webb pointed to the spot. Liverpool fans would only have seen the following events in their nightmares, as Giggs stepped up to beat Reina, with replays showing that the contact on Berbatov for the penalty was minimal to say the least. It was the worst possible start for Kenny Dalglish, as he stood, mouth open in disbelief at the decision that had been made.

It wasn't a penalty. Agger didn't get the ball in his challenge, but the contact on Berbatov was not enough to bring him down. Berbatov claimed afterwards that anyone who knows him knows that he doesn't go down easily, but the challenge from Agger was enough to make him lose his balance. Two contradicting statements from the Bulgarian striker there, but the referee gave the penalty, and the game was basically won for United.

Half an hour later, and the situation for Liverpool became even worse. As a ball rolled in the centre of the pitch, Carrick and Gerrard ran to win it. Carrick just got there first, and nicked the ball away from the Liverpool captain, but with all the trademark passion and character that has made him a Liverpool legend and talisman, Gerrard dived in, intent on winning the ball and leaving his mark. He did the latter. The tackle was dangerous, he missed the ball, Carrick layed in a rolling heap on the Old Trafford pitch, and the 70,000 or so United fans called for Gerrard to be gone - all contributing to Gerrard's dismissal, as the United faithful got their wish.

At first glance, we may have said that a sending off was a tad harsh being only half an hour into the game, but Dalglish's accepting reaction to the replay confirmed that complaints to the red card were invalid, and Dalglish walked back to his seat without any complaints. He knew though, that the task ahead was a vertical climb up a giant mountain with resources that would not cut it. In other words, with the players on the pitch, and with the form they have been in, the task ahead was close to impossible.

United never really got into a groove. They were comfortable on the ball, and comfortable coping with the few Liverpool attacks that were attempted, but they weren't cutting enough or ruthless enough in the game to get the goal to seal the game off  - mainly because, they didn't need to. United were easily the stronger side.

The big build up to a game between two old rivals ended up with a match being decided by two big refereeing decisions. It wasn't the intensely gripping, passionate duel between two of the biggest names in English football that had been anticipated for the neutral, but the drama of the first half and Dalglish's return was enough to keep curious and nervous eyes on the game, and see United hold out for what ended as a comfortable but somewhat disappointing win.

Gerrard will miss the next three games for Liverpool, which includes the Merseyside derby, leaving Dalglish with the unenviable task of looking for some decent and affordable players in the transfer market to help get Liverpool's season back on track.

It's Not All Hodgson's Fault

WARNING: The below article will be deeply unpopular with the majority of Liverpool fans' current views. Read at your own risk.

The latest Liverpool defeat has only magnified Liverpool fans anger with the manager Roy Hodgson. If ever there was an example of a football manager under pressure, it is Hodgson at this very moment. Nothing he does pleases Liverpool fans. Nothing that he says Liverpool fans like. No decision that he makes is agreed with. Not because they are all wrong actions, wrong things to say and wrong decisions, but simply because the majority of Liverpool fans have made up their minds about him. They don't like him.

I have massive sympathy in this respect for Hodgson. The blame seems to be solely heaped onto him, with even players performances blamed on his tactics. In my opinion, the players should be taking far more of the stick that Liverpool fans are dishing out. They are simply not playing well enough. That is a fact. They have the ability, but are not showing it, and because of this, results are very poor, leading the fans to look for someone to blame. They can blame the players, but that would achieve nothing. Blaming the manager could get him sacked, and a far easier option for everyone. Solution? Blame the manager. For everything. Get him sacked. Get a new manager. Liverpool will be great again.

It doesn't work like that. But at the moment, that's all I see happening. He needs a chance to be given money, bring in some players, and stamp his authority on the team. Liverpool were hardly the best team at the end of Bentiez's reign, and turning around a club in the situation that Liverpool were in was never going to happen over the course of a couple of months. Anyone who thought that were deluding themselves.

In relation to the Wolves loss; Wolves were bottom of the league. Man for man, Liverpool are a better side. Liverpool had Gerrard and Torres - world class players. Unless Hodgson's tactics involved "lose the game" or something to that effect, the players should have done a whole lot better and won the game. There was a lack of togetherness, and very few players showed any sign of leading the team - standing up and being counted but we all know that the players are capable.
Hodgson said after the game:

"We are not deliberately losing matches. You know what these players are capable of. All I can say is that it is time for people to help us along. We lacked quality and confidence."

In my opinion, there are a few things that the Liverpool team need.

Firstly, they need the support and backing from the Liverpool fans. Abusing the manager isn't going to make his job any easier, and having him sacked will not only cost the club money.

The team needs some new faces of quality. For that to happen, the board need to give the manager money to spend and prove that he has their support.

The players must come together, as a team, and fight for their club, for their fans, and for their manager. They must show their quality, and they must prove that they are worthy to wear the red of Liverpool and play at
their famous ground in front of thousands of expecting fans.

Finally, the manager. Although he has had  rough start, it is up to him to turn it around. He knows that his reign so far has been disappointment, and he would have hoped that it would have gone better, but he is a very good manager. He knows his football, and he is certainly good enough to manage Liverpool.

The only way Liverpool get out of the mess they are in is if they pull together and start to play as well as we all know they can. Lest Liverpool fans forget the famous song that they sing; it seems to me as if Liverpool fans are letting Hodgson walk through the storm by himself.

Liverpool 3 - 0 Aston Villa - Video Goals

Liverpool moved up to 8th in the League with a 3 - 0 win over Aston Villa and their former Liverpool manager, Gerard Houllier. Liverpool didn't play brilliantly, but Aston Villa were very poor; offering nothing in the attack, and switching off at the back for the three goals.

Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres were all missing for Liverpool, something that fans may have worried about, as they haven't been in the best form when those key players were in the team. The losses however did not have a bad effect on the team at Anfield, and the two strikers, David Ngog and Ryan Babel stepped up to score the opening two goals and setting up the win for Liverpool.

Watch the goals below:
David Ngog Goal


Ryan Babel Goal


Maxi Rodriguez Goal

Henderson, Carroll and Jay Bothroyd are In England Squad

Fabio Capello announced his England Squad for the friendly against France. The names included a lot of young talent which the Italian coach will be hoping to create a different kind of team with a different dimension to it which will be the England of the future.

Squad:

Goalkeepers:
Ben Foster, Robert Green, Joe Hart

Defenders:
Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Kieran Gibbs, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards, Chris Smalling, John Terry

Midfelders:
Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Adam Johnson, James Milner, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Ashley Young

Strikers:
Gabriel Agbonlahor, Jay Bothroyd, Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch.

Liverpool 2 - 0 Chelsea - Terrific Torres too Much for Chelsea

Liverpool defeated the Champions in their best performance of the season which saw Fernando Torres score two brilliant goals to turn the corner for Liverpool to put smiles on every Liverpool fans' faces.

Liverpool started brightly, and with a nice dink over the Chelsea defenders by Dirk Kuyt to Torres, fit or not fit, there would be only one end to this Liverpool attack. He may have miss hit the ball into the ground, but this Spanish striker knows where the goal is, and it past Petr Cech in goal to set Liverpool off.

The second goal came at a great time. Just before half time, Meireles fed in Torres on the left hand side, and after cutting inside onto his right foot, curled a beauty into the top corner of the Chelsea net - nothing Cech could do.
His touch was much improved, and he worked much harder than previous performances this season. The early goal obviously helped his confidence, and he went on to put in a man of the match performance. He was able to lead from the front and set a standard for the rest of the team.

Gerrard was once again exceptional, and Carragher at the back was, as always a fearless defender who put his body on the line to keep Chelsea out. One chance, after a powerful Anelka shot that Reina bearly saved, the ball bounced off of the top of the crossbar, and was about to be met with a tap-in from Didier Drogba. Jamie Carragher however, was in his way, and shepharded the ball back into Reina's hands. Drogba knew the chance was a brilliant one, but he acknowledged too that the defending was brilliant.

The second half was defend, defend, defend from Liverpool who desperatley needed to hold onto their lead. Chelsea wouldn't give up, and created enough chances to score at least one goal. But the resiliant togetherness from Liverpool kept the two goal lead, and the valuable three points.

Liverpool are now up to ninth in the League, and Chelsea only two points ahead of Manchester United. Out of the bottom half, and having just beaten the English Champions, it may be too soon to say that Liverpool are "back", but slowly, and steadily, they are getting there.

England 0 - 0 Montenegro

Whenever England got the ball, all they saw was a sea of red shirts, gathering swiftly around them, reducing the options of attack and taking away any chance of a goal. Montenegro clearly didn't come to England with the objective to score a couple of goals - their 4-5-1 formation clearly demonstrating that fact, and the all-talk build up from certain Montenegro players who claimed that they were "super-confident" that they could beat the English at Wembley hardly looked like coming true.

It proved to be a tough test for England to break down the Montenegro defence, as the visiting team hardly ventured out from their own half - but a test that the England fans certainly expected their team to pass, with the boos at the end of the game, expressing that.

It was a reasonably good start to the game for England, having 70% of possession, and Crouch coming close twice thanks to a beautiful through ball from Gerrard, and a good cross by Adam Johnson. In the middle of the game, the good start fizzled out, and England became sloppy, and lost any cutting edge that they may have had at the start.

The second half was similar to the first, but England retained their sharpness (the blunt form of sharp) and had a good spell of pressure near the end - as they should have won a penalty through Ashley Young, and then a blatant hand ball from a Montenegro defender, which only the referee missed.

It was not a good England performance, but it wasn't a bad one - it was a frustrating one. A performance that England fans are becoming used to witnessing - if they haven't already.

In a rare chance for Montenegro which had Joe Hart beaten, they hit the crossbar with a great half volley in the eight third minute, which could so have easily caused Capello to lose his job. Kevin Davies, the eldest English debutant for over fifty years, came on for Crouch a couple of minutes before that, and picked up a yellow card with one of his first actions. A good few headers and his general physicality helped to open up a few areas, but the half chances came to nothing.

At the end of the game, as Montenegro celebrated as if it was a win, the English players trudged off, wondering what they could do to win over their frustrated fans.